The field of the disclosure relates generally to gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to a method and system for cooling fluid distribution in gas turbine engines.
Many industrial components rely on a supply of relatively different temperature fluid for proper operation and/or extending a life of the component. Relatively cool air is often used to remove heat generated by the component or heat that is transferred to the component from other nearby components. A source of this relatively cool air is often separated from the component to be cooled by a distance that may be significant, and the route the relatively cool air must take to get to the component may be close to heat-generating components. Heat from these heat-generating components may be transferred to the flow of relatively cool air, raising its temperature and reducing the effectiveness of its cooling capability.
Insulating the conduit carrying the relatively cool air is a common remedy. However, simply adding insulation increases the weight of the conduit. Because of the complexity of the route the conduit must take and the proximity of the conduit to the heat-generating components, adding a layer of insulation may not even be feasible in many cases.
For example, in some cooling fluid distribution systems, such as typical Active Clearance Control (ACC) systems, cool air is ducted from the fan bypass stream under the core cowl, and to a system of manifold segments in close contact with the engine case. The manifold segments include headers that direct the ducted cool air axially to stages (typically two stages) of the turbine or compressor case. The ducted cool air is then directed into cooling runner channels that spray the cool air onto the hot engine case. Because the manifold segments, ducts, headers, and cooling runner channels are in close proximity to the hot engine case, the cool air picks up heat along the route and is not as effective at cooling the engine case as it could be.